1795, "to bring to a center;" 1800, "come to a center," from central + -ize, on model of French centraliser (1790). A word from the French Revolution. Related: Centralized; centralizing.

Government should have a central point throughout its whole periphery. The state of the monthly expences amounted to four hundred millions; but within these seven months, it is reduced to one hundred and eighty millions. Such is the effect of the centralization of government; and the more we centralize it, the more we shall find our expenses decrease. [Saint-Just, "Discourse on the State of the Finances"]